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IRS Commissioner Charles Rettig’s commitment to fighting tax fraud seems to have manifesteditself in at least one of his recent personnel moves.

Starting September 1, the deputy chief of the Criminal Investigation division, Eric Hylton, will take over as commissioner of the Small Business/Self-Employed Division, and a couple days later, Darren Guillot will move from director of field collection to be Hylton’s deputy.

Kathy Keneally of Jones Day told Tax Notes that Hylton’s move is a visible demonstration of Rettig’s repeatedly stated emphasis on civil and criminal tax fraud enforcement. “No one person can affect what an agency is going to do — you implement what you want to accomplish by who you put in place to get the job done,” she said.

Hylton’s appointment seems to telegraph IRS management’s mindset, according to Steven Toscher of Hochman Salkin Toscher Perez PC. He couldn’t recall a similar situation in which a CI deputy chief took over an operating division. In addition to showing management’s confidence in Hylton, the move demonstrates “the enforcement-mindedness of the powers that be,” Toscher said.